Some Montford Supporters Fear Curtis Richardson Mayoral Candidacy

With sources beginning to tell Tallahassee Reports that Senator Bill Montford may not run for Mayor of Tallahassee, some supporters of Montford are getting nervous about the prospects of a mayoral campaign by City Commissioner Curtis Richardson.

When word slipped out weeks ago that Senator Montford may run for mayor, those looking for change at city hall quickly coalesced around a potential candidacy. After City Commissioner Gil Ziffer withdrew from the mayoral race, the support for Montford became more public.

Barney Bishop, a local political activist and state-wide lobbyist, has been vocal in his support for the popular state senator:

Bill Montford is the only person that I know of who can ride in on the white steed and lead Tallahassee out of this morass of corruption that inundates our city. He will need help, of course, from the new commissioners, but Bill is unique in that he has earned the respect of his peers wherever he goes and both Democrats and Republicans listen when he talks.

Others, who did not want to go on the record, have offered similar sentiments.

However, now with rumors circulating that Montford may bow out, a number of his supporters fear that City Commissioner Curtis Richardson could end up as Mayor of Tallahassee.

Richardson has not been shy about his intentions. He told the local media, “I am waiting to see what happens with Senator Montford.”

Richardson has proven throughout his career he can win local elections, and therefore, presents a real problem for those who want someone outside the city structure as mayor.

Richardson has won elections for the Leon County School Board and for Florida House of Representatives.

More importantly, in 2014, he won a hard fought city-wide election for his current city commission seat against a fellow Democrat, Diana Oropallo. Oropallo had significant support from some city power brokers, but only garnered 40% of the vote, while Richardson received 52% and avoided a runoff election.

A large part of Richardson’s success is due to his likable personality, his support for neighborhoods in development disputes and the unwavering support of the African-American community.

However, critics point to his recent support of an internal hire for city attorney, his vote to water down of the city’s ethics ordinance, and his recent statement that there was “no cloud over the city” as evidence that Richardson is not the change that is required to clean up city hall.

Since his comments, Richardson has recommended that City Commissioner Scott Maddox step down amid the FBI investigation.

So now, Montford supporters are encouraging people to send emails and make phone calls asking the senator not to get out of a race he was never in, but a race most believe he would easily win.

There message, delivered with passion and a hint of desperation, is “you are our only hope”!

It is extremely important to note that Richardson has literally been elbow to elbow around the decision making table with Maddox, Fernandez, Gillum and Miller during the duration of these FBI issues, correct? How could he possibly claim to clueless? Note Richardson’s support for Cassandra Jackson during this train wreck.

Time for Richardson to leave with the rest of these thieves. Wrong place, wrong time doing the wrong thing with the wrong players. With all the associated baggage.

Curtis has failed to show any leadership on the dais. I really hoped he could step up, but he just goes along with the status quo, bullies citizens when they are speaking, disenfranchises citizens from speaking, conducts meetings illegally, looks the other way when corruption is in front of him, and rallies for insiders appointments screaming racial injustice if an appointment is not made.

Snidely’s random thoughts on Curtis:
Curtis will get the local Reverends and their block ebony vote for sure.
However Curtis does not have that “certain look” about him that will get the hearts throbbing in the rest of the “non-ebony” lock step “D” voters to become enamored with him in the same way they fell heart and soul for Andy and Barak.
Curtis may want to get in contact with George Soros to see if he can squeeze some money out of that old fool though.
The real issue for Curtis though is will the local indictments drop before or after the local Mayor’s race. If it’s after Curtis may win – if it’s before then no because of guilt by association.
And finally what annoys me most is that many normally sensible local folks just assume [for no logical reasons] that Curtis is somehow innocent of any wrong doing. Curtis may be the first to be indicted…y’all don’t know.

As much as I disregard any Liberal Democrat’s candidacy for any office, I must admit that Bill Montford has a solid record of earning respect on both sides of the aisle, and I don’t get the impression he’s cut out of the same Liberal D cloth that many D’s are. When I’ve heard him speak, at times he sounds more like a Conservative than many Republicans I’ve heard, particularly any RINO.

So at present, I’m willing to send emails to Montford urging him to run for Tallahassee Mayor, and I sincerely hope he does. 2 Reasons to vote for Montford:
(1) He’s an Outsider, which automatically gets him a vote over any COT Insider in my book. Voting for Montford could well prevent any COT Insiders from becoming the Mayor.
(2) He has a reputation that has earned him respect from many who know him, which automatically puts him ahead of any COT Insider also – ALL of them are dirty to one extent or another.

Mike, I appreciate your opinion. I disagree. Montford is an insider, has held office at the local level, has hobnobbed with other local insiders for years, mentored Jackie Pons, is riding the golden drop parachute, was/is a darling of the local newspaper, and already has a school named after him. I believe he is more of the same.

I have no idea what he has accomplished for his district in the legislature. He sure has done nothing to get enough respect to earn our largest local workforce a raise.

Thanks for the info, Mr. Hooker. I admit to a general lack of knowledge of Mr. Montford’s history, having lived in Tally for about 10 years now. I’d heard he was a respected politician on both sides of the aisle and I had hopes that he could clean up the “cloud” of corruption that is inarguably covering our city. However, I welcome any reports about Mr. Montford that documents his local affiliations with any longtime Tally Insiders. The last thing this city needs is yet another Insider!

Hopefully among the names that surface in the Mayoral race, there are several who have a moral compass and actually care about Tallahassee and what it can become, rather than using their elected position as a lever to move taxpayer dollars into their own pockets.

Thirdly, mayoral authorities are better placed to secure further devolved powers and responsibilities. The Government has clearly shown a preference towards places with mayors in decisions about funding and policy, for example by directly allocating a part of the Transforming Cities Fund to the areas (while other non-mayoral cities will have to compete to access the fund). Furthermore, having a metro mayor in place will not only encourage the Government to devolve more powers (and has already), but it also means that mayoral authorities have a stronger voice representing them than other cities.